Should the UK be made to pay for their colonial past i don’t believe so?

Question

As its not the uk behind the problems of Africa or asia now.
Ie countries like Zimbabwe should be fighing for the freedoms. The whites or blacks should go back and fight for there country.
Pakistan spends 70 of there gdp on arms.
Where will it stop

yes and the usa messed up jamica and the uk does not import bananas from jamaica anymore cus there to expensive we get most of our bananas from ecudor now. i think you will find not that many white people own land in jamica now. and i think u will find the usa is messing up most of the west indies now not the uk.

Answer 1

If the UK is expected to pay for its empire, then maybe italy should be forced to fund the Roman conquests, and mongolia the mongol empire. Kind of a stupid idea don't you think. To be honest it annoys me that we even appologise for our actions hundreds of years ago; those who deserve the appology are no longer here, and decendants just see pound signs, so donty consider it.

Slavery was a bad thing no doubt, but without it much of the black population who live outside Africa would still be living a tribal life in a desert.

So a moral can be learnt, never regret your past however bad, because without it you would not be in the privileged position to look back and remember the bad times.

Answer 2

No. The British Empire was without doubt the best thing that happened to the world. It ended slavery in c1807 and began the task of introducing modern government to its colonies soon thereafter. By the 1950s the empire began turning itself into the Commonwealth.

Nothing is ever perfect but what we the British gave the world far exceeds any debt which people think we may owe.

India remains the jewel in the crown and is the best example of any nation which has taken freedom, liberty and democracy to it's heart. India is the worlds largest democracy. Do people think this has nothing to do with the British? If they do, then they are wrong. The Labour Party was instrumental in helping create the foundation of democracy in India. The very first two Labour MPs in the House of Commons were in fact 'Indians'.

The rest is history. UK owes nothing. It is they who owe us. For those nations, particularly in Africa [Zimbabwe] who have 'messed up', stop blaming UK and blame yourselves. Look who's running your country. It certainly ain't UK.

Answer 3

I found your question quite disturbing. Why should the UK pay for things that happened possibly hundreds of years ago? Most of the world has at one time or another been ruled by different countries not always successfully and yet you pick out the UK?
What about all the atrocities the Japanese caused during the second world war. Is anyone going to make them own up and pay for their wrongdoings? What about the Saxon invasion into Britain in the 8th century, are you going to ask Germany to pay for that? The Romans also invaded and overwhelmed the British many hundreds of years ago but we won't be knocking on the Italians front door to ask for reparation. Britain does have a shady past where invasion etc is concerned but that is where it belongs, in the past. We can't be expected to pay for other people's sins.

Answer 4

How are modern day Britons supposed to "pay" for stuff that happened 100s of years ago?? What does it have to do with us??

There are plenty of Brits living in poverty, struggling to survive on low wages. We're not all rich and benefitting from what happened in the colonial days!!!

All European countries either had an "empire" or wanted one in those days. If the UK was to be made to "pay" for what long dead people did a long time before any of us were born (pretty damn unfair) then so would France, Belgium etc.

Plus the Americans would have to pay reparations to the Native Indians and the black slave trade and the Aussies would have to pay the Aborigines for nicking their land.

Answer 5

Most of the land in Jamaica IS owned by White people of colonial descent, most of the companies are owned by them (be it public or private), our bauxite is still benefitting the former colonial powers, our banana is stil bought by Britain but at lower prices and nothing was ever done to correct the fact that Britain PAID the SLAVE OWNERS for their loss.

Go read.

Yes the USA is far worse NOW than the UK, but the question was about the UK paying for its PAST. Pay through debt forgiveness.

As a citizen of Jamaica, a former British colony that now has Independence, I can say that the UK SHOULD address the issue in some way. I don't foresee paying reparations actually happening but there are other means - namely forgiving the debt owed, and the UK has done some of that.

If you believe that the European nations truly are not at fault for many problems in these former colonies you obviously did not watch "Hotel Rwanda", "Blood Diamond", "In My Country", "Life and Debt", "Catch a Fire" and more. How about you watch "Amazing Grace" when it comes out too.

You must understand that the natural resources of our countries were "raped" for the benefit of the masters, not the locals. The money from sugar cane and bauxite in my country went to the coffers of the UK. Believe it or not, when slavery was outlawed in Jamaica the British PAID the PLANTATION OWNERS for their losses and the former slaves got NOTHING. Guess who owned the land as well? This happened all over the empire.

The best example is Africa, a nation rich in natural resoruces such as diamonds and gold yet who makes all the money? How can a company like De Beers (you know "a diamond is forever") have controlled more than 80% of the World's diamonds up until recently? There are now efforts to create diamond cooperatives that will actually allow the miners to share in the wealth instead of getting $1 per day, which is less than 5% of the total money earned form their mining on a daily basis.

How about Starbucks paying ridiculous amounts for their coffee beans from Africa and refusing to raise the price so that the farmers can earn a fair share? That is why "fair-trade goods" are catching on, goods where EVERYBODY earns and not the rich countries.

The UK however DID have preferential treatment for former colonies - such as for banana with the Caricom (Jamaica included) and that was meant to be part of a plan to help these former coloines but the big bad US went to the WTO under the Clinton administration to lodge a complaint because Chiquitas and Dole asked - the US DOES NOT EXPORT BANANA yet they said the agreements were unfair to them and so the preferential treatment stopped.

Africa has its problems of in-fighting but they are fighting to control the little wealth leftover for them. Do some more research and speak to more people from former colonies. Also watch what is happening in Nigeria as they take back their oil and kick out the multinationals.

Answer 6

I agree: the days of Britain having to make amends for the past are long gone. The UK uncoupled from its most exploitative colonial relationships decades ago. Since then, the UK has spent vast fortunes on overseas aid to make up for the past. I think the right thing for the UK now to do is to settle back into being a highly successful European country. We should bring an end to guilt-driven immigration from former colonies, cut back on aid, and spend our money on our own people. This is not racist or arrogant: in fact, it is the meddling and arrogance of the left that continues to stir up people in other countries and brings all the problems to these shores.

Answer 7

UK should live for today, everything else in the past is history. France, Spain, Portugal,etc aren't made to pay for there colonial past and neither must the UK.

Answer 8

We do have things which we should not be proud of and learn from. But these things are in the past and perhaps its time to leave them there.

I would like to say that English colonies were administered better than a lot of other colonies and the people treated better apart from the shipment of slaves of course (but remember slavery was happening within these countries before we came) and the life of a slave was worth more than a sailor (if he went overboard they didn't have to pay him)..

I think people were different then and thought differently.

If you look at the mess many countries have made of their independence I think many might have been better staying as colonies.

Answer 9

The UK is one of the most charitable nations on earth. Their only mandate in terms of sins of the past is to learn from them and not repeat them. If you were to adopt this kind of policy every Western Nation would be held at gun point by the third world. It is time for people to start taking responsibility for their own actions and stop blaming them on the past.

Answer 10

Consider that Britain is already paying the consequences of the former colonies perhaps.